Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Short Interest Up 6.4% in March

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 26,810,000 shares, an increase of 6.4% from the March 15th total of 25,190,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,100,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 12.8 days.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Down 0.7 %

BXMT stock traded down $0.12 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $18.15. 1,284,349 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,109,275. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.74. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 1-year low of $16.83 and a 1-year high of $23.82. The company has a market cap of $3.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.96 and a beta of 1.42.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.66%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 175.89%.

Insider Activity at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.25, for a total transaction of $46,068.75. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 192,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,888,465.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,274 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.42, for a total transaction of $46,435.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 194,298 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,967,565.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,275 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.25, for a total transaction of $46,068.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 192,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,888,465.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,540 shares of company stock valued at $112,642. Insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 15.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,643,329 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $405,492,000 after acquiring an additional 2,470,412 shares during the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 7,948,955 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $169,074,000 after acquiring an additional 686,881 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 0.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,787,010 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $81,136,000 after purchasing an additional 12,582 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,723,675 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $66,468,000 after acquiring an additional 545,134 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 25.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 3,277,188 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $58,498,000 after purchasing an additional 656,329 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BXMT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $18.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $20.50 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.50 to $21.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 20th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $22.00 to $21.00 in a report on Monday, March 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.17.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc, a real estate finance company, originates senior loans collateralized by commercial properties in North America, Europe, and Australia. The company originates and acquires senior floating rate mortgage loans that are secured by a first-priority mortgage on commercial real estate assets.